Broken Without You
by waterfallphoenix
Summary: Oralie after Kenric's death. Contains spoilers for Everblaze.


**AN: Well, I am quite disappointed in the world. It seems I am the first to write about this pairing. If you know of any other Kenric/Oralie fanfics, please PM me!**

Oralie got up and looked around, wanting to see who was safe. She saw ten of the other Councillors - Bronte, Clarette, Velia, Terik, Liora, Emery, Ramira, Darek, Noland, Zarina...

But the one she really cared about was missing.

"Where's Kenric?" she whispered.

"He didn't make it." Oralie didn't even notice whose voice it was; she was feeling more emotions than she'd ever felt, even as an Empath. Sadness. Anger. Even guilt.

"It's my fault," she choked out through tears.

Right before part of her mind shattered into a million pieces. But she didn't care if her mind was broken.

Her heart was too.

"It's not your fault." Oralie didn't care how many Councillors said it at once. Kenric was dead. And it was her fault. She had agreed for Fintan's mind to be healed. It was her fault. Her fault.

Her mind kept shattering, but she didn't try to fight. She was conscious of only one thing.

Kenric was dead.

Not broken. Dead.

* * *

Sophie ran to the Councillors. She had to heal Oralie. Maybe she couldn't save Kenric, but she could at least save one person.

She placed her fingers on Oralie's temples and started making her way through the shattered memories. As she searched for the nook, she heard one clear thought echoing through Oralie's mind:

 _Kenric is dead._

There had to be some of her consciousness left.

She found the nook and started transmitting.

 _Oralie. Oralie. Oralie. Can you hear me?_

She started inflicting every positive emotion she could think of - happiness, peace, joy, love.

Sophie started to feel Oralie's memories piecing themselves together, but all she could hear was the echoing of _Kenric is dead_.

Eventually another thought came up: _It's my fault_.

 _No, it's not!_ Sophie transmitted quickly, but it was too late. Oralie had broken again.

Sophie pulled away. "What happened?" asked Alden, who apparently had come while she was healing Oralie.

"She broke again."'

Sophie took a deep breath before going back into Oralie's mind.

She found the nook again, still hearing echoes of _Kenric is dead_. She inflicted all the positive emotions, then started transmitting.

 _Oralie. Oralie, it's not your fault. It's my fault. I should have realized there was Everblaze sooner._

She noticed Oralie's mind starting to heal. The she heard _No, Sophie. I agreed that Fintan's mind should be healed. It's my fault._

And then she broke again.

But Sophie was thinking about what she had told Oralie. That it was her fault.

She was even starting to believe it.

"It's my fault all of this is happening."

"No, Sophie. It's not. The Council ordered the healing. And none of us knew Fintan would spark Everblaze. If it's anyone's fault, it's his. Sophie! You can't break!"

No. She couldn't break.

She would try one more time to heal Oralie.

She found the nook almost immediately. She focused on positive emotions and inflicted them. Then she started transmitting. _Oralie, it's not your fault. You didn't know he would spark Everblaze. No one did. If it's anyone's fault, it's Fintan's. Oralie, it's not your fault._

 _You're right. It's not._

Sophie came back to reality. Oralie was healed.

* * *

Sophie was right. It wasn't her fault.

But Kenric was still dead.

Oralie felt tears streaming down her cheeks as once-broken memories of him flashed through her mind.

* * *

 _I remember when Grady and Edaline had huge parties every year. I remember the one when Kenric first asked me to dance. I said no; I thought the rest of the Council would ask us to resign even if we just danced. But I wanted to. And every time he asked, I was more tempted. But I didn't. I considered talking to him after the party to explain, but I didn't want to visit him without asking first. As I thought about it that night, I wished I had danced with him. We don't have to ignore our feelings when we're just having fun, right?_

* * *

 _At the next party, he asked me to dance again. I was about to say yes, but I was still scared. When he asked for the fifth time, I finally said yes. And I decided to talk to him after the party._

* * *

I know you're here, Oralie.

 _I wasn't sure if I was just imagining it or if he was transmitting to me. "Sorry," I said. "If you want I can go."_

 _"No, I'd like it if you stayed."_

 _I smiled. "Okay."_

 _"So why did you come?"_

 _"So we can talk without a hundred elves listening."_

 _"About...?"_

 _"Tonight."_

 _"You want to tell me why you only danced with me the fifth time I asked you?"_

 _"I wanted to since the very first time, but ... I thought they would make us resign."_

 _Kenric laughed. "If that was the case, I wouldn't have asked in the first place."_

 _"I guess I should have thought of that."_

* * *

 _For years we would secretly visit each other, and soon we were in love. He would secretly transmit things to me at random moments. I wrote down every one. And I remember them._

 _Especially the last one._

 _It was two days ago. Not much was happening. Then suddenly I heard his voice in my head:_

I would resign with you.

 _Part of me wanted to go over to him, in front of the whole Council, hug him, and tell him that I would resign with him too._

 _But what would the world say if two Councillors suddenly resigned?_

 _Right before the healing? When we were supposed to be there to help?_

* * *

 _It wasn't until last night that I talked to him again. "So, have you stopped ignoring me?" he asked._

 _"Oh, Kenric, I ... I just ... needed some time."_

 _"I understand," he said, wrapping his arms around me._

 _I couldn't keep myself from smiling as I said my next few words. "I would resign with you too."_

 _And then he kissed me._

 _It was a wonderful first kiss._

 _Little did I know it would be our last._

* * *

 _I visited him again just this morning. "Are you ready?"_

 _He hesitated before nodding._

 _I reached out and touched his cheek with one hand. With the other I gently pulled out one of his hairs. "Just in case," I whispered._

 _I set the hair down on the table as he did the same._

 _I just remember hoping that we wouldn't have to use them._

* * *

 _"Wow," whispered Kenric, wiping his sweaty brow with his sleeve. "His mind is a maze. I can't . . ."_

 _He groaned and rubbed his temples._

 _I rushed to his side, tracing one soft finger across the crease puckering his brow._

 _"Thanks," he whispered, sighing as he pressed his face into my palm. "You always make everything better."_

 _And I could tell he wasn't lying._

 _I smiled, gently cradling his head, until we both realized we weren't alone._

* * *

Oralie wiped the tears from her eyes as she changed into a pale green strapless gown and a matching cape. She brushed her long, blonde hair and pulled it into a bun. She didn't bother with makeup; it would only make her look worse if she cried again.

"The Wanderling Woods," she whispered to the Leapmaster. One crystal came forward and she glittered away, making sure to conceal her wrist with her cape. She had put on her old nexus, which she had kept despite not having worn it in centuries. She wasn't sure if she could fully concentrate on anything. And she couldn't fade away. Especially not after breaking three times.

She took off her nexus and placed it in one of the pockets of the pants she had secretly worn under her long gown, which reached past her ankles. She took a deep breath before taking a single red hair out of another.

Oralie approached the other Councillors, who had arrived before her. She handed the hair to Councillor Terik, who would plant the seed.

She leaned on her bodyguards for support as they walked to the clearing where Kenric's tree would be planted.

* * *

 **AN: Last memory was actually in Everblaze and it wasn't changed much. It's near the bottom of page 291. Yes. I bookmarked it.**


End file.
